Classic Delena
by MargelleFics
Summary: Remember when the show was simpler and Delena was falling in love before our eyes? This fic takes you back to 2x22, so if you're looking for a break from how complicated the show has gotten - this fic is for you! Damon, Elena, and Katherine go after Klaus and Stefan and along the way, Elena learns she can't resist the older Salvatore. Rated M for later chapters. Check it out :)


**Hello readers! **** If you're missing some classic Delena, this is the story for you. It seems like as the show has gone on, things have just gotten more complicated. But remember when it was season 2 and 3 and we were all watching Damon and Elena fall in love? Well, we've decided to go back to that point because classics never get old. **

**This story is brought to you by two long-time Delena fans. StorytelleratHeart and HannahTaylor1. We have written together for more than five years, and we're thrilled to be posting back on here for all of you. **

**Please remember to leave a note because we thrive on your feedback. Enjoy **

XOXO

"He sacrificed everything to save his brother," Katherine smirked at Elena. "Including you. Its a good thing you have Damon to keep you company."

Elena couldn't process the barb from her doppleganger right then. Damon had just been on his deathbed only to magically come back to life after drinking a cure from Katherine's hand. And now apparently Stefan, her on-again-off-again boyfriend, had apparently left town with their biggest enemy as payment for that same cure. She was as frantic for him as she had been for Damon just minutes before. "Gave himself over to Klaus..." She repeated again. "That can't be right, Katherine He wouldn't do that. Not without talking to me first."

Laughing, Katherine rolled her eyes. "Its not like Klaus gave him one phone call or 48 hours to think it over. He had to choose and he chose Damon. Might as well accept it."

Out of the corner of her eye, Elena saw Damon sis up slowly, his body healing quickly from the cure but likely still weak. Elena went over to lay a hand on his arm, helping him without really even thinking about it. "If he's really with Klaus, we have to help him." She looked down at Damon, grateful to see color in his face again. She pressed his arm. "How are you feeling?"

He glanced at his arm, the bite gone while the redness from the infection was still fading. Rose's memory and Stefan's collided with the last hours of agony. "Probably better than Stefan is feeling right now," he replied, swinging his legs out of bed and searching the room for his boots. "Any chance there's a blood bag hiding somewhere?"

Elena nodded, keeping a close eye on him even as her mind was whirling with a million thoughts. They had kissed when she thought he was dying. Damon was in love with her and she knew it, so when she thought it was their last moment together, she had leaned in and pressed her lips to his as a way to tell him how much he meant to her and how sorry she was that his life and their time together was going to be cut short. She hadn't expected the rush of feeling she'd experienced in that one short kiss, or how much she had ached at the thought of him not being in her life. "I'll find you something. Katherine, don't even think about leaving. You're our only clue to where Klaus has Stefan." Moving quickly, she ran to find Damon enough blood to make him strong again.

XOXO

"When did she get put in charge?" Katherine muttered, kicking Damon his other boot as Elena disappeared.

He laughed dryly, pulling on his shoe. "Where have you been for the last two years? Elena's always in charge."

"You always did like a dominant woman," She smirked, crossing her arms. Katherine glanced over him, her connection to Damon long-lived even if it was rather shallow. "Sure you're going to live?"

His tone was bland. "Sorry to disappoint. Oh _wait_. I'm actually not. Sorry, that is. I'm planning on living for another 1000 years at least. Long enough to make sure werewolves go extinct." He shrugged on his leather jacket and messed with his hair in the mirror.

Katherine walked up behind him, turning him around to assess the status of their relationship at the moment. "Well maybe I'm not sorry. You're nice to look at. And I think I should get a thank you kiss. I promise I'll mean mine more than Elena meant hers..." She leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

Before he could react or she could get a good feel for his familiar mouth, Elena interrupted them, walking back in with two mugs of blood for Damon. She stopped short when she saw Katherine kissing Damon and averted her eyes, giving Katherine a good dose of satisfaction she hadn't found in Damon's kiss. Elena was so transparent if you knew what to look for. She wanted Damon to herself. Maybe someday she would wake up to that realization.

"We don't really have time for that," Elena said sharply, setting down the mugs on the end table. "We have to go after Klaus."

XOXO

Damon pushed Katherine back from him, not even interested enough in her to show irritation with her behavior. All his angst was centered on Elena as her endless devotion to his brother reared its ugly head. He knew very well that her tears and that goodbye kiss meant nothing now that Stefan had so selflessly giving himself. Elena couldn't resist a martyr. "Klaus? Or Stefan, you mean." Damon picked up a mug and downed it.

Elena frowned. "He saved your life Damon."

"Well, you know. Nobody can be perfect. Not even saintly Stefan." Damon's eyes flashed as he finished the second mug. "Don't worry. I'll get him back for you."

Katherine leaned up against his dresser. "Give it a rest you two. Your sexual angst is making my skin crawl. As it turns out, I can help you, but of course I need something in return."

"When did you become predictable?" Damon glanced down at his shirt, grimacing at the bloodstains. He removed his jacket again and headed for the closet. Just another day in Mystic Falls. Near death and blood on his shirt.

"Hilarious," Katherine muttered. "I'm running a little short on cash. Call it a few bad investments and about ten too many lux vacations. If I'm going to disappear out of your lives again, I need a way to fund that until I can compel my next benefactor. So my information and personal guidance comes at the price of say... 15,000 dollars."

Elena gaped. "You think we have that kind of money? Jeremy and I are living off the little bit left of my parents' life insurance money, Katherine. Why can't you just go compel someone right now?"

"Because I've gone through all of my backup nest eggs," Katherine said casually. "And that makes me antsy. So you want your boyfriend and I want a new nest egg. Are you saying you wouldn't pay 15,000 dollars for Stefan? He means so little to you." Her eyes gleamed. "Would you pay 15,000 for Damon?"

Elena glared at her, fists clenching. "You're a horrible person. The only redeeming thing you've ever done is coming here with Damon's cure and saving him. Now you're ruining it. That was scary for a minute, Katherine. It was almost like you had a soul."

"Whine, whine, whine." Katherine put out her hand. "Pay up or give up on Stefan."

"Half now, half when we find him." Damon emerged from the closet in fresh clothes. The money meant nothing to him. But Elena did. And so did Stefan.

Katherine smiled. "Deal. I'll be waiting in the car."

As Katherine swept out of the room, Elena stared at Damon. "That's so much money, Damon. Maybe we can find another way. There have to be clues..."

"I can afford money. I can't afford the years it could take to find Stefan without Katherine's help," he replied bluntly, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt. "Or I don't want to afford them, at any rate. The sooner my brother's back in your arms, the sooner I can get back to my own life."

"Your... own life?" She repeated. "Why are you so angry, Damon? You're alive. Your brother loves you, obviously. Why are you pushing away?"

"Don't go there, Elena," he warned, the desire to take her in his arms and hold her close to his slow heartbeat almost overwhelming. He pulled on his jacket again. "Do you have everything you need to hit the road? Stefan and Klaus are probably at least three states away by now."

Elena shook her head. "No, I don't have anything but the clothes I'm wearing, and whatever might be in Stefan's room." She went to him. "Look, Damon if you're angry because of the kiss... I'm sorry. It was an impulse. I thought I was losing you, and I reacted."

"I know." He raked his fingers through his hair to avoid wrapping his arms around her. "Doesn't mean I don't wish it was for another reason. Let's just go get your stuff and get going. You need Stefan. He needs you." _And so do I_, Damon added silently.

As he waited, Elena hesitated, shifting back onto her heels. She finally spoke. "Okay." Then, to his surprise, she leaned in and hugged him. "I'm really glad you're okay." Pulling away, she made a bee-line for the car before the conversation could go any further.

XOXO

In her room, Elena shoved things into her bag as she held her cell phone between her shoulder and her face, listening to it ring and ring. "He's still not answering," She muttered to Damon. Katherine was off raiding a blood supply so they would have a few days of blood bags in the cooler, and Damon was glad for the reprieve from her grating presence. "Even if Klaus picked up then at least we would know something." She grabbed a pair of tennis shoes and high heels, pushing them both into the bag. "I don't like that Katherine hasn't told us anything yet. She could be playing us Damon. I have to find Jeremy and tell him. I can't just leave town when he's dealing with everything. And Bonnie...Caroline." She pressed a hand to her head. "Why can't there ever just be a break? Just two days to do something normal. One day even."

Damon's anger faded in the presence of her anguish. Walking over, he took the high heels back out of her bag. "I don't think you'll be needing those." He rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. "We'll find Stefan. Then you two can go off on some kind of holiday. I'll watch out for Jeremy while you guys take that break."

Her body sagging without leaning into him, she pressed her hand over his and sighed. "Thanks, Damon. Could you text Jeremy to come home while I finish packing?"

"Already did that." He squeezed her fingers. "I'll fix it, Elena. You deserve a better life than this. I'll find a way. I promise."

This time she did lean into him. "I'm really glad you didn't die."

Cursing himself for once again loving a woman he could never have, Damon wrapped his arm around her waist. "Come on," he teased. "You'd have it so much easier without always having to worry about the Salvatore loose cannon."

She smiled a little. "But without you, I'd never have any fun at all."

Damon smirked. "Come on. Stefan is all kinds of fun."

Elena smiled more genuinely and pushed him away. "He's a lot of things, but impish and upbeat are not two of them." She finished throwing in some clothes. "Grab my soap and shampoo from the shower please."

"Impish?" Damon repeated, laughing. He ignored her instructions and opened a drawer instead, pulling out a pair of silky panties. "Make sure you pack these." He dangled them from the tip of his index finger.

Elena rolled her eyes and snatched the panties from him. "Yes, impish. You've just proved my point. Now will you go get my stuff so I can change? I don't trust you to close your eyes."

"You could be a little more impish," Damon complained, vanishing into the bathroom where he busied himself opening bottles and sniffing each one.

XOXO

Elena quickly changed out of her jeans and shirt, which still smelled like Damon from spending so much time curled up next to him. Pulling on a clean pair of jeans, a tank top, and a hoodie, she checked herself in the mirror. She looked tired, but okay all things considered. Elena was pulling her hair up in a ponytail as she went to check on Damon. "Why are you smelling my soap?"

"Duh. Because you won't let me smell you," he replied practically.

She held back a smirk at his familiar antics, knowing he was trying to distract her from their predicament. "Okay, well I'm ready. Can we get going? Jeremy said he was on his way, right?"

"Yeah." Damon capped the two bottles he'd been sniffing appreciatively and handed them to Elena. "Just so you know, it's unfair using stuff like that when you're already armed with potent biological weapons."

"What weapons do I have?"

"Maybe someday I'll tell you." He escorted her from the bathroom, picking up Elena's bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "And maybe I won't."

Elena was about to retort when heard the door open downstairs. "Jer? Is that you?"

"Yo." Her brother appeared at the foot of the stairs.

She ran down and hugged him. "Are you okay?"

Jeremy held her tight, meeting Damon's eyes over his sister's shoulder. "You're good. I'm good. So what's this I hear about a road trip?"

"Klaus has Stefan. He gave himself to Klaus to pay for Damon's cure." Elena's voice cracked. "We have to find him."

"Damon'll find him," Jeremy promised her. "You don't have to go, Elena. I don't want you anywhere nearer to Klaus than you need to be."

Elena shook her head. "I'm not letting Damon go alone. Or staying here without searching for Stefan. I'm so sorry, Jeremy. I want you to go stay with Matt, okay?"

He stepped away from her, his jaw tightening. "Sure. I'll go play video games with Matt while my sister walks straight into the vampire's lair."

Hurting for him, she tried to make him understand when she knew there was no reason he should have to endure everything that had happened to him. "Damon will keep me safe, Jer. Could you just stay here if it was me that was kidnapped?"

"You're my sister. Not some random vampire." For once, Jeremy wished it was Damon that Elena loved, if only because that meant she wouldn't be traipsing off again. "I lost you once already, Elena. Don't make me go through that again."

"I lost her too." Damon descended the stairs, stopping a few feet away from them. "She's not going anywhere again. Trust me. I know, I know. Easier said than done.:

Elena looked over her shoulder, giving Damon a small smile. He was always there for her when she needed him, no matter how frustrated with their relationship he got. Briefly, it occurred to her that Damon would never have left town and abandoned her. Then she felt guilty for the thought. "You can trust him, Jer. And I promise to be safe. All I want is for all three of us to come home safe." She pressed her brothers arms.

"I don't trust him and I don't know if I believe your promise. But what choice do I have?" Jeremy shrugged, trying to mask the worry that Elena knew ate at him endlessly these days. "Be safe, sis." He hugged her again, closing his eyes briefly as he memorized the feel of her against him.

"So can we go or what?" Katherine broke the moment, standing in the doorway with several coolers of blood. "Or is this feel-good time?"

"Not with you here." Damon snagged two coolers from her. "I'll meet you in the car," he told Elena, picking up her bag too and walking with Katherine back outside.

As Katherine followed Damon out, Elena heard her ask him, "So you know how to get to Tallahassee?"

XOXO

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